Less than 1 mile east of Volcano, this National Natural Landmark has the whiff of a tourist trap, but one look at the array of helictite crystals – rare clusters that grow horizontally – makes the crowd more sufferable. Guides for the one-hour tours are all experienced cavers.
Black Chasm Cavern
Lonely Planet's must-see attractions
Marshall Gold Discovery State Historic Park
29.13 MILES
This state park comprises a fascinating collection of buildings in a bucolic riverside setting at the site of James Marshall's riot-inducing discovery…
Indian Grinding Rock State Historic Park
1.12 MILES
Two miles southwest of Volcano, this sacred area for the local Miwok comprises a museum in a traditional wooden roundhouse, a village site, a limestone…
El Dorado County Historical Museum
22.95 MILES
On the El Dorado County Fairgrounds west of downtown (exit north on Placerville Dr from Hwy 50), is this complex of restored buildings, mining equipment…
Calaveras Big Trees State Park
20.81 MILES
Home to giant sequoia trees that reach as high as 250ft with trunk diameters of over 25ft, these leftovers from the Mesozoic era are thought to weigh…
9.53 MILES
You can't miss the ominous steel headframe of the mine from the road, rising to 125ft. Its pulleys lifted ore and miners from the bowels of the earth…
9.81 MILES
In its prime, Sutter Creek was Gold Country’s main supply center for all things forged. Three foundries operating in 1873 made pans and rock crushers, but…
9.91 MILES
This building goes back in time to when the general store was the center of the town’s social and economic life, represented by the chairs that circle the…
California Cavern State Historic Landmark
16.61 MILES
California Cavern has the mother lode’s most extensive system of natural underground caverns. Regular tours take 60 to 80 minutes, or get a group together…
Nearby attractions
1. Indian Grinding Rock State Historic Park
1.12 MILES
Two miles southwest of Volcano, this sacred area for the local Miwok comprises a museum in a traditional wooden roundhouse, a village site, a limestone…
2.74 MILES
This hilltop farm, 2 miles northeast of Volcano, is blanketed with more than 300,000 daffodil blooms in the spring. The McLaughlin and Ryan families have…
8.71 MILES
Remnants of the bygone era are just outside of Plymouth. The Chew Kee Store Museum, 6 miles east in Fiddletown, is an old herbal shop that once served…
9.53 MILES
You can't miss the ominous steel headframe of the mine from the road, rising to 125ft. Its pulleys lifted ore and miners from the bowels of the earth…
9.81 MILES
In its prime, Sutter Creek was Gold Country’s main supply center for all things forged. Three foundries operating in 1873 made pans and rock crushers, but…
9.91 MILES
This building goes back in time to when the general store was the center of the town’s social and economic life, represented by the chairs that circle the…
10.17 MILES
The somewhat undiscovered settlement of Mokelumne Hill is 7 miles south of Jackson just off Hwy 49. Settled by French trappers in the early 1840s, it’s a…